Police had set up a special task force to look into the disappearances of men in the Gay Village area of Toronto, eventually leading to McArthur's arrest

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Five of the victims of Bruce McArthur, who pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder in Toronto on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2019.

A former landscaper charged with killing eight men with ties to Toronto's Gay Village district pleaded guilty on Tuesday to eight counts of first-degree murder.

Bruce McArthur, wearing a black sweater, stood up and said "guilty" eight times as the charges were read. Sentencing will start Feb. 4.

Police last year found the remains of seven of the men in large planters at a property where McArthur had worked. The remains of the eighth victim were found in a ravine behind the same property in midtown Toronto.

The prosecutor, Michael Cantlon, said the cases involved sexual assault or forcible confinement and said the bodies were hidden and dismembered.

Police set up a special task force to look into the disappearances of men in the Gay Village area of Toronto shortly after some went missing. McArthur was arrested six months later.

The alleged victims fit a pattern: Most were of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent and lived on the margins of Canadian society, their disappearances attracting little attention.

One victim hid the fact that he was gay from his Muslim family. Another was a recent immigrant with a drug problem. Another alleged victim was homeless, smoked crack cocaine and worked as a prostitute.

But then Andrew Kinsman vanished. The 49-year-old LGBQT activist and former bartender in Toronto had many friends. When he suddenly went missing the day after Toronto's gay pride parade, his friends noticed quickly, and so did the police.

Police set up another special task force to look into the disappearances of men in the Gay Village shortly after Kinsman went missing.

Members of the LGBTQ community were long voicing concerns about a potential serial killer and pushing for answers in light of the disappearances, which were deemed suspicious. An initial police task force in 2012 didn't lead to an arrest.